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Friday, September 4, 2009

I love hot wings. There's a place my home that's got some pretty decent hot wings. I've been craving them recently, but I'm too lazy to go out in the heat. So I decided to make some at home. But then, I got the craving for meatballs. Who doesn't love meatballs? What do I choose? Hot wings or meatballs? Hot wings? Meatballs? Don't you just hate it when that happens. So, I sit and ponder the thought for moment on my semi-comfortable Ikea futon, when I heard that little voice inside my heard say, "Why not combine both?" My eyes widen. Genius!! "Thank you little voice inside my head," I replied back in a loud voice. Luckily, no one heard me or else they would think I'm crazy for talking to myself. Boy, that little voice of mine has sure come up with some clever ideas lately.

I reach into that big Costco bag of chicken breast, which by the way, I'm nearly done with it. Woohoo... I needed the mix-ins. Onion, check. Garlic, check. Panko crumbs, check. I thawed out the chicken and ground it in the food processor. If you can find ground chicken in the market, go right ahead. Saves you some time. Combined all the ingredients together and made 12 balls. They're slightly larger than a golf ball.

I baked these in a small cake pan that I covered the top with foil. It's like steaming and baking at the same time. Covering them helped the chicken stay tender and moist. It also helped absorb the hot sauce that I later coated them in. When you take that first bite, it's nice and juicy. Then, of course, I tossed them in a butter and hot sauce combination and served it with some dipping sauce. I'm not of a fan of blue cheese dressing. Don't get me wrong I like blue cheese, but not just the dressing form. I guess you can blame it on a bad blue cheese dressing experience a few years back. I made a yogurt dressing that would go really great with this. Helps balance the heat. I had gotten this simple dressing from a friend when I had dinner with her and her husband. But you can use any dressing you'd prefer.

Two cravings in one dish. You can even omit the hot sauce all together and just make them into regular meatballs for pasta dishes or sandwiches. Also you can add as much hot sauce as you'd like as well. Whatever your preference of heat is. Don't forget to add some carrot and celery sticks, too.